What is fundamentally wrong with Islam today, 2.0 ?
In order to understand why a religion, any religion, or any thing for that matter, we begin with a clear definition of what it is or what it is supposed to be or to do. Very many Muslims I met do not even know what a religion is, or what it is supposed to do. The same goes for any other religion.
Verify yourself this statement, go find a religious zealot, and ask him or her why he is doing a certain religious ritual, and the calm innocent answer would be that it is the requirement of his religion, and he believes in that religion. Period.
What is a religion. Typically you get the answer, as the one given by Google below :-
the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.
"ideas about the relationship between science and religion"
synonyms:
faith, belief, divinity, worship, creed, teaching, doctrine, theology;
sect, cult, religious group, faith community, church, denomination, body, following, persuasion, affiliation "the right to freedom of religion"
a particular system of faith and worship. plural noun: religions
"the world's great religions"
a pursuit or interest followed with great devotion.
"consumerism is the new religion"
Middle English (originally in the sense ‘life under monastic vows’): from Old French, or from Latin religio(n- ) ‘obligation, bond, reverence’, perhaps based on Latin religare ‘to bind’.
The trouble with these definitions, although correct, is that they lack character. What is a religion and why does one even need a religion ?
The most accurate description I found is from a Jewish newspaper website, an article about the origins of the word “religion”. The article is called Roots of ‘Religion. Apparently, even the origin of the word religion is in disputed by the scholars. I have taken to choose the oldest definition of it, which would be the bolden part of the para in the box below, extracted from the article mentioned, the Roots of Religion.
From its original meaning of “punctilious respect for the sacred” religio came to denote any comprehensive human system of organizing and expressing such respect. Thus, the character of a religious person exhibit this “punctilious respect for the sacred”, and in Islam today there are very many things sacred, The Koran is, the Prophet is, Allah is, conformity to Koranic values is also sacred, which is why Gays and Lesbians are persecuted, Kafirs or non-Muslims are hated, they way Allah hates kafirs as described by the Koran. That is what religion is. Many religions are like that. That is what Islam is today.
Now if you have a belief, that would be a personal belief, that is not a religion, not yet. No, you do not have a religion. I repeat, you do not have a religion . No one has actually has a “religion”. But everyone has a personal belief, yes. However, it is common today, that a person who has a certain belief , or a group of people having the same belief, is said to be of a certain religion.
But who defines what a religious belief is ? In Christianity, today it is the Bible and the Pope. But, do the Pope speak for Protestants ? Similarly, who in Islam today speaks for Islam ? Do the Sunni Imams speak for Shias ?
The problem with Islam today is that there is no clear leader in the religion. The Imam of Mecca may make statements regarding religion, but Muslims usually follow their own local Imam, and indeed these local Imams even dispute what the Imam of Mecca says. They do so under the authority of the Koran itself, and sometimes explain away what the Imam of Mecca says as politically motivated or under duress.
Hence, there cannot be one who speaks for Islam and the Prophet of Islam is long dead. It has been prophesied in Islam that a new leader will come about, the so called Imam Mahadi. Until then you can pick our choice among the many Imams of the world. And until then, a Muslim is expected to follow the Koran, and the ways of the Prophet called the Sunnah. And it is with this authority that individuals and Imams make their own interpretations of the religion. And some of their interpretations are extremely violent, some sheer absurd, yet they are all believable , especially by a Muslim. Why ? Because it is from the Koran, the Word of God.
A personal belief or system of belief, is knowledge passed down to us to aid us in our struggle in life, which can be very difficult. It tries to help us from cradle to grave and even well after we are in the grave, for those we leave behind. Typically, religions have rituals for newborn and for deaths, and we consider them significant because they bear the burden of enormous emotional baggage.
If we take religion as collection of beliefs for society, purpose of religion then would be so that we can have peace in our society and world peace. No religion claims to be able to stop or prevent natural disasters, yet many followers of religion organize mass gathering and prayers to pray for God to stop the disaster, or to spare them. And these are even done officially, organised by governments.
Thus, it is obvious that religion is an extremely useful tool for the individual and for governments, politicians even businessmen, as an aid in life. It is because of this that efforts to eradicate religion from time immemorial all failed in various degrees.
If we all belief in peace, and that belief is also our religion, then we have a religion of peace. We may encounter another person with a different religious belief, but if that person also belief we should live in peace, we then have peace.
The persons personal belief may be very different from us, but the common belief can be in peace. It can be said that if we all have different beliefs and religions, but we all have a common religious and personal belief, which is to live in peace, we then can perhaps achieve world peace. That we have not had sustainable world peace in the domain of religion suggests that some us us and some of our religions do not believe in, and preach peace. Islam is suspect.
And at this stage of the book, I wish to assert that Islam is the religion that do not preach peace, promotes violence and murders, and it is exactly the reason we see all the horrors of crime and wars coming from wherever there is a Muslim or Muslim or Islamic community. This fact is very obvious, will be denied only by the blind or by the one so indoctrinated, either voluntarily or by force, that a mere suggestion of something wrong with his religion gets thrown out without further honest examination.
It is also at this stage I expect my family to denounce me, my friends to stay well away from me, mobile phone and telephone ring in the offices of authorities ( especially religious authorities ) and my own biological mother will turn in her graveyard. So be it. I owe this to the very many lives lost due to killings and murders done by Muslims in the name of Islam.
( I just hope the people helping me with the production of this book do not suddenly disappear. )
Salman Rushdie wrote the Book called “Satanic Verses”, which I had not have the chance to read yet, but it was banned by Muslim countries worldwide and even some neutral countries, for the sake of peace, and earned him, the author Salman Rushdie, a fatwa ( declaration or opinion ) by the Ayatollah of Iran ( a majority Shia Muslim Country ) calling for Rushdie's death.
Personally, I think Salman Rushdie went too far, and never did declare the intention of writing his “Satanic Verses”. This leads to negative perceptions perhaps.
But given that there are indeed satanic verses in the Koran and they are the ones I refer to as promoting violence and murders in the top paragraph, something has to be done, in order for the real beauty of Islam, the gem of Islam to shine and the glory of Islam returned to its rightful place in the world of religions.
Something has to be done, but what ?
USA declared war on Terrorism. Soon after made another statement saying the War is against Terrorists, not against Islam. ( A war against Islamic Terrorist is a war against a Terrorist, not a war against Islam ). This effectively avoids another Crusade, on which would undoubtedly bring about the end of the world. ( There are about 2.2 Billion Christians and 1.5 Billion Muslims. A repeat of the Crusade today, would be very very different from the actual Crusade in our human history ! )
Some governments took charge of the Religion for their country, some governments support the Terrorists, and some governments pretended nothing happened, yet some governments become Terrorists themselves. However, none of these, no one and nothing on Earth has prevented further wars and crimes due to religion, due to Islam. Islam is so acidic it would penetrate and burn any and every part of the World. So what do we do ?